Alternator and electronic fuel injection for oil well pumps

ABSTRACT

Oil well auxiliary power system. The oil well auxiliary power system includes a prime mover coupled to a pumpjack. The prime mover comprises a motor. A stub shaft is coupled to the motor of the prime mover. A gear system is coupled to the stub shaft. A generator is coupled to the gear system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/945,514 filed on Jul. 31, 2020, entitled “ALTERNATOR AND ELECTRONICFUEL INJECTION FOR OIL WELL PUMPS,”, which claims the benefit of andpriority to United States Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.62/882,399 filed on Aug. 2, 2019 and entitled “ENGINE AUXILLARY POWERGENERATION,” and also U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.63/013,305 filed on Apr. 21, 2020 and entitled “ALTERNATOR ANDELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION FOR OIL WELL PUMPS,” which applications areexpressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND Background and Relevant Art

Crude oil production often occurs in remote locations. Thus, it is oftensubject to the constraints of these remote locations. In particularthere is little to no infrastructure for things such as commercialelectrical power, communications, etc. For example, an oil well willtypically use a pumpjack to harvest oil in an independent and mostlyself-sustaining way. For example, the pumpjack is configured to useresources available at the pumpjack site to operate the pumpjack. Forexample, many oil pumpjacks are natural gas powered in that a naturalgas engine, which is typically an internal combustion engine, is used torotate a crank and counter weight, to actuate a pitman arm coupled to awalking beam and downhole elements to lift liquid out of a well. Naturalgas is typically produced from the oil well in conjunction with the oilproduction. This natural gas can be cleaned and used to run the pumpjackmotor.

Modern pumpjacks often include intelligent control mechanisms to controlthe operation of the pumpjacks. For example, such control mechanisms areoften implemented using the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition(SCADA) architecture. These control mechanisms can be used to monitorchanges in liquid flow, well pressure, temperature, etc. Alternatively,or additionally, the systems may be configured to intelligently respondto changes in the drilling process for purposes such as safety,efficiency, or for other reasons.

Note however, these systems typically require external control power inthe form of low-voltage electricity to operate the logical circuits,solenoid and valve controls, etc. However, as noted previously, an oilwell is typically located in a remote location not having access topower infrastructure. As such, many oil wells use electrical powerobtained from a combination of solar cells and batteries. Such systemshave power to power the control systems from electricity generated bysolar energy when the Sun shines but use battery power when the Sun isnot shining. Note that such systems typically produce electricity thatis 12 V in the 3 to 5 amp range. Thus, the number and complexity ofoperations that can be performed using this power is limited. Indeed, inmany systems, there is insufficient power available to charge thebatteries at the well site. Therefore, those batteries often need to bereplaced on a regular basis due to being depleted by control operations.

Further, the limited amount of electrical power available limits othertypes of activities using electrical power. For example, it may bedifficult to implement power-hungry applications.

Further still, it may be difficult to implement devices such as fuelinjectors which may require more power than is traditionally availablefor compressing gasses in such fuel injectors.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one exemplary technology area where some embodimentsdescribed herein may be practiced.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One embodiment illustrated herein includes an oil well auxiliary powersystem. An oil well extraction system includes a prime mover coupled toa pumpjack. The prime mover comprises a motor. A stub shaft is coupledto the motor of the prime mover. A gear system is coupled to the stubshaft. A generator is coupled to the gear system.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

Additional features and advantages will be set forth in the descriptionwhich follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or maybe learned by the practice of the teachings herein. Features andadvantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of theinstruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims. Features of the present invention will become more fullyapparent from the following description and appended claims, or may belearned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features can be obtained, a more particular descriptionof the subject matter briefly described above will be rendered byreference to specific embodiments which are illustrated in the appendeddrawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typicalembodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting inscope, embodiments will be described and explained with additionalspecificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a power generating system implemented at an oil wellsite;

FIG. 2 illustrates additional details of the power generating systemimplemented at the oil well site;

FIG. 3 illustrates an assembled view of a planetary gear drive;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view of the planetary gear drive;

FIG. 5 illustrates a cutaway view of the planetary gear drive; and

FIG. 6 illustrates another exploded view of the planetary gear drive.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 , an example is illustrated. FIG. 1illustrates an oil well 100, a pumpjack 102 for extracting oil from theoil well 100, and a prime mover 104 coupled to the pumpjack 102.

The prime mover 104 comprises an engine, which in some embodiments is anatural gas engine. The prime mover 104 is coupled to a stub shaft 106(see FIG. 2 ). The stub shaft 106 may be an additional shaft thatextends outside of the prime mover 104 to allow connection of agenerator as illustrated further herein. That is, in some embodiments,the stub shaft is added to a conventional prime mover to allow for theconfigurations illustrated herein. The stub shaft 106 is coupled to aplanetary gear drive 108 (or other gearing system). The planetary geardrive 108 is coupled to a generator 110, which in some embodiments maybe an alternator.

In particular, the stub shaft 106, in some embodiments, is configured tooperate in the 300-500 RPM range. However, many alternators need to beoperated in the 2100 to 3100 RPM range. As such, the planetary geardrive 108 may have a gear ratio configured to use the speed of the stubshaft 106 to create an output speed of 2100 to 3100 RPMs for thegenerator 110. Note that other RPM ranges and gear ratios may be used inother embodiments.

In some embodiments, the generator 110 may be an alternator configuredto output 12V and at least 20 Amps. In some embodiments, this can beaccomplished by using an alternator having, or coupled to a rectifiercircuit to convert output from the alternator from AC current to DCcurrent, a voltage regulator to regulate the voltage at 12V, and/or anyother appropriate circuits needed to maintain appropriate voltages andcurrents. In some embodiments, commercial, off-the-shelf alternators maybe used. One such alternator may be an off the shelf alternator for usewith small tractors. Alternatively, an alternator used for a motorcyclemay be used.

In some embodiments, a 24 VAC, 40 Amp alternator may be used.

Note that in some embodiments, a custom generator or alternator may beimplemented. For example, as will be illustrated below, various magnetsand coils may be added to a gearing system, such as the planetary geardrive 108 to combine the alternator and gearing system as appropriate.Although a custom generator or alternator external to the gearing systemmay alternatively be implemented.

Note that in some embodiments, the alternator may output AC voltage,which may be converted to DC voltage, as described above, when needed.

In some embodiments the generator 110 may be dual purpose. Inparticular, the generator 110 may function as a starter motor to startthe prime mover motor. For example, a battery (e.g., in the battery bank112) at the oil well site may be applied to the generator 110 causingthe generator 110 to rotate, causing the planetary gear drive 108 torotate, causing the stub shaft 106 to rotate, causing the valves,pistons, and other elements of the motor on the prime mover 104 to beactuated. If fuel (e.g., natural gas collected from the well 100 andstored for later use) and a combustion ignition source are provided, theprime mover motor will start running. Once the prime mover motor isstarted, the generator 110 can function as a generator to produce poweras described above.

The generator 110 can be coupled to one or more of a number of differentpower consuming device to provide power to these devices. For example,as illustrated in FIG. 2 , the generator may be coupled to a batterybank 112 to charge the batteries in the battery bank. In particular, thebattery bank 112 may be able to provide power to various power consumingdevices at the oil well site when the prime mover 104 is not active andproviding power via the generator 110. The battery bank 112 may be anyone of a number of different battery technologies such as lead acid,nickel metal hydride, lithium, or other appropriate battery chemistries.

The generator 110 may be coupled to a control mechanism 114. Forexample, the control mechanism 114 may be a Supervisory Control and DataAcquisition (SCADA) architecture control mechanism. This can be used tomonitor and control well pressures, fluid flow, temperature, or otherelements. Note that because the generator 110 is able to producesignificant amounts of power, the control mechanism 114 can control abroader number and type of sensors and actuators as compared to previoussystems. In particular, the control mechanism 114 may be configured tocontrol various valves and solenoids as well as to monitor varioussensors around the wellsite

FIG. 2 further illustrates that the generator 110 is coupled to lighting116. Often, the lighting 116 will be implemented using LED lighting orother appropriate lighting. The lighting 116 allows operators and otherprofessionals to inspect, maintain, or otherwise interact with theequipment at the wellsite. Thus, the lighting is not simply indicatorlighting, but lighting sufficient to illuminate equipment forinspection. Thus, for example, some embodiments may be configured toproduce at least 1000 lumens.

FIG. 2 further illustrates that the generator 110 may be coupled to aninverter 116. The inverter 116 is able to convert the voltages producedby the generator 110 to standard power voltages and currents. Forexample, the inverter 116 may be able to provide 120 or 240 V AC toallow standard power equipment and devices to be utilized at thewellsite.

FIG. 2 further illustrates that the generator 110 may be coupled to aCCTV system 118. In particular, because the generator 110 is able toproduce sufficient amounts of power, a CCTV system including variouscameras and monitors can be powered by the generator 110 to providevisual recording, playback, and/or data transmission of visual and/oraudio data from wellsite.

FIG. 2 further illustrates that the generator 110 is coupled tocommunication equipment 120. For example, various radio communicationhardware, satellite communication hardware, or other communicationhardware may be powered by the generator 110 to provide for remotecommunication with the equipment at the wellsite and/or remotemonitoring of equipment at the wellsite.

FIG. 2 further illustrates that the generator 110 is coupled tomotion/proximity sensors 121. In particular, the motion/proximitysensors 121 may be used to monitor unusual movements about the well siteto detect potential sabotage, theft, or even domestic animals orwildlife interaction with equipment at the wellsite.

Some embodiments may be configured to provide engine management for moreefficient oil well, prime mover motor operation. For example, someembodiments use generated power, generated by the generator 110, topower an added engine programmable control module (PCM) 123 with acustom program using sensors input to determine air intake, fuelpressure, ambient conditions, crank position, wide band O₂ and exhaustgas temperature. The PCM will control ignition timing using ignitionelements and fuel to air ratios using a fuel injector 125 based on thisinput. Note that fuel injectors often require additional power inputthan would normally be available from previous systems, and thus theembodiments illustrated herein can have sufficient power output at thegenerator 110 to implement the PCM 123 and the fuel injector 125.

Previously, such PCMs were not able to be used with prime mover motorsas there was no source of power sufficient to run the PCMs, associatedsensors, and the fuel injector. Thus, previous prime movers for oilwells would run without the closed loop controls provided by PCMs. Byimplementing the generator described herein, such PCMs and fuelinjectors can now be implemented on prime mover motors. For example,some fuel injectors may require around 1 to 1.5 Amps. Other fuelinjectors may require as much as 6 Amps. The system illustrated hereinallows such fuel injectors to be implemented on a prime mover motor,where they were previously not able to be implemented.

Note that by implementing the generator 110 at the wellsite, otherequipment that would typically not be available at the wellsite could beimplemented and powered by the generator 110.

The generator 110 may be coupled to the devices above alone or invarious combinations as appropriate.

Referring now to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6 , additional elements and detailsof the planetary gear drive 108 are illustrated. In particular, FIG. 3illustrates an assembled embodiment of the planetary gear drive 108. Theexamples illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 6 are shown with accurateproportional dimensions.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exploded view of the planetary gear drive 108. Inparticular, FIG. 4 illustrates the stub shaft 106. The stub shaft 106 iscoupled to a P drive 122. As illustrated in FIG. 5 , which illustrates acutaway view of the planetary gear drive 108, and in FIG. 6 whichillustrates an alternative view exploded view of the planetary geardrive 108, the P drive is coupled to a ring gear 124.

Returning once again to FIG. 4 , the ring gear 124 is coupled to aseries of planetary gears 126. The planet gears are coupled to a Sungear 128. The Sun gear 128 is coupled to a driveshaft 130.

FIGS. 3-6 further illustrate a bell 132 and a stator 134. In thisexample, the bell 132 includes magnets within the bell and the stator134 provides one or more current carrying element. For example, in oneembodiment, the stator 134 may have current carrying elements, such aswiring, for a 3 phase generator. Thus, in this example, the bell 132 andthe stator 134 implement the generator 110 shown in FIG. 2 . Note thatin other embodiments, the drive shaft 130 may be coupled to an externalgenerator rather than implementing the bell 132 and stator 134 as agenerator as shown.

To provide a sense of the size of the planetary gear drive 108, thedimensions of various components will now be described. The housing 136,in the illustrated example, has a diameter of 9.42 inches and a depth of3.88 inches. The stub shaft has a diameter of 1.875 inches and a lengthof 5.8 inches. While these particular sizes are shown, it should beappreciated that in other embodiments, different sizes and/orconfigurations may be implemented. Indeed, it should be noted that adifferent gear system altogether may be used and that the planetary geardrive 108 is simply one example of a gear system that may be used.Indeed, in some embodiments, with an appropriately designed bell andstator, the gear system may be eliminated altogether.

Thus, while the illustrated example is shown with a 6.5 inch diameterbell and appropriately sized stator, in some alternative embodiments,the stator 134 may be a larger stator, such as a stator being sized from10 inches to 12 inches, and the bell 132 may be likewise appropriatelysized to for the larger stator. In this case, the gearing shown can beeliminated, such that the bell could be coupled directly to the stubshaft 106 to produce power. However, in some such embodiments, loweramounts of power will be produced than in the previous example.

In some embodiments, the generator 110 may be designed to operatebetween temperatures of −40° to +50° C. In some embodiments, thegenerator 110 may be enclosed in, or be designed to meet the enclosurerequirements for a NEMA 4× housing. In some embodiments, the generator110 (either connected to intervening gearing or alone) may be designedto mount on a 1.875 inch stub shaft. In some embodiments, the generator110 may be designed to generate 3 phase a/c current. In someembodiments, the generator 110 may be designed to generate a minimum of400 watts and 30 volts at 350 rpm. The generator 110 may be configuredfor operation at an RPM range of 350-500 rpm.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or characteristics. The described embodimentsare to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and notrestrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by theappended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changeswhich come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims areto be embraced within their scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. An oil well pump system comprising: A primemover; a pumpjack coupled to the primary mover, wherein the primarymover comprises a motor, wherein the motor operates in a 300-500 RPMrange; a fuel injector coupled to the motor; and a programmable controlmodule coupled to fuel injector causing the fuel injector and motor tooperate in the 300-500 RPM range.
 2. The oil well pump system of claim1, wherein the motor is a natural gas motor.
 3. The oil well pump systemof claim 2, wherein the motor is configured to receive natural gas froma well from which the pump system is pumping oil.
 4. The oil well pumpsystem of claim 1, further comprising a generator coupled to the motor,the generator configured to operate at 300-500 RPM and configured tosupply sufficient power to operate the programmable control module andthe fuel injector.
 5. The oil well pump system of claim 4, wherein themotor is coupled to a stub shaft, and wherein the generator is coupledto the stub shaft.
 6. The oil well pump system of claim 4, wherein thegenerator comprises a planetary gear system.
 7. The oil well pump systemof claim 4, wherein the generator comprises a stator being sized between10 inches and 12 inches.
 8. The oil well pump system of claim 4, whereinthe generator is enclosed in an enclosure meeting NEMA 4× requirements.9. The oil well pump system of claim 4, wherein the generator generates3 phase a/c current.
 10. A method of operating an oil well pump system,the method comprising: operating a prime mover coupled to a pumpjack,wherein the prime mover comprises a motor, wherein the motor operates ina 300-500 RPM range; and using a programmable control module coupled toa fuel injector for the motor to operate the fuel injector and motor inthe 300-500 RPM range.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the motor isa natural gas motor.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprisingproviding natural gas from a well from which the pump system is pumpingoil.
 13. A method of manufacturing an oil well oil auxiliary powersystem comprising: coupling a prime mover to a pumpjack, wherein theprime mover comprises a motor that operates in a 300-500 RPM range;coupling a a fuel injector to the motor; coupling a programmable controlmodule to the fuel injector and configuring the programmable controlmodule to operate the fuel injector and the motor in the 300-500 RPMrange.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the motor is a natural gasmotor.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the motor is configured toreceive natural gas from a well from which the pump system is pumpingoil.
 16. The method of claim 13, further comprising coupling a generatorto the motor, the generator configured to operate at 300-500 RPM andconfigured to supply sufficient power to operate the programmablecontrol module and the fuel injector.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein the motor is coupled to a stub shaft, and wherein the generatoris coupled to the stub shaft.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein thegenerator comprises a planetary gear system.
 19. The method of claim 16,wherein the generator comprises a stator being sized between 10 inchesand 12 inches.
 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising enclosingthe generator in an enclosure meeting NEMA 4× requirements.